Microsoft has reportedly shuttered a South of Midnight developer

Microsoft is reportedly shutting down Xbox Developers of Assistive Binding Games, 2025 south of midnightAs part of the company's plan to restructure the Xbox brand. It is currently unclear how many staff members at Montreal-based Xbox Studios will be affected by the potential closure.

Compulsion Games' most recent release was 2025 south of midnightAn action game depicting the folklore and culture of the American South. south of midnight The latter was released on March 31, 2026 on Switch 2 and PS5, as part of Microsoft's efforts to expand some of its IPs to other platforms. south of midnight Xbox Game Pass is also available for Premium, Ultimate, and PC subscribers to enjoy. The title won the Impact Honor for Games at The Game Awards 2025 and the Best New Intellectual Property Award at the 22nd BAFTA Game Awards. However, these compliments may not be enough to drive compulsive games.

Compulsive games can be turned off

Hours after Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan announced his departure from Microsoft, reports said the tech giant is considering more cuts. Sources said that the makers of Compulsion Games south of midnight, We are very happyand ContrastXbox can be turned off as part of the “reset” attempts. However, sources at Compulsion Games added that the studio was in talks with Microsoft about its potential fate, although details were not disclosed. The report comes two months after Compulsion Games was looking to hire some programmers for a new, unexpected IP project. Given the uncertain status of Obligation games, what will happen to this unknown IP? As of this writing, neither Microsoft nor Compulsion Games has officially commented on the situation.

Scratch and pick

Identify the cover art while scratching off as small a foil as possible.

Scratch and pick

Identify the cover art while scratching off as small a foil as possible.

EasyMediumHardPermadeath

The news comes days after Xbox CEO Asha Sharma released a letter outlining a reset of the gaming arm's infrastructure. Although Sharma's letter to Xbox staff members did not indicate that there would be any layoffs, sources indicated that there could be possible job cuts after Microsoft's current fiscal year ends on June 30. Sharma said that, despite Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, Xbox spent more than $20 billion in ongoing investments, although profit margins fell by -3% year-on-year.

100,000 player interviews at South of Midnight

Although marketing budgets and game studios are potentially on the chopping block, it's unclear what the extent of Xbox's planned cuts are. However, Xbox's financial reset doesn't stop there. A separate report released on June 12 said that selling the Xbox is reportedly “on the table” for Microsoft. This possible move involves restructuring Xbox into a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, similar to GitHub. Should Xbox become a wholly owned subsidiary, the gaming giant could either be sold to another company or used to create joint ventures with other corporate partners.

Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.

Easy (15 seconds) Medium (10 seconds) Hard (5 seconds) Permadeath (5 seconds)

A June 12 report suggested that Xbox might be doubling down on its flagship IPs hello, The Elder Scrollsand resultAs part of efforts to produce more first-party titles at a faster pace. With Compulsion Games potentially discontinued, it remains to be seen what the fate of Xbox's smaller IPs will ultimately be.